Infosys Shuts Down Russia Office: Find Out The Real Reason Why?

Some of the world’s biggest companies with operations in Russia pulled out in solidarity with Ukraine, which Russia is waging a war against. 

Companies that have remained in Moscow have been subject to scrutiny and criticism.. 

Infosys appears to be the latest target despite India refusing to take a stand due to diplomatic reasons.

Russia Operations

The company, in which founder Narayan Murthy’s daughter Akshata Murthy owns a stake, is “urgently” closing its office in Russia and “relocating” its employees to other nations.

It has a small team based out of Russia, that services its global clients locally. 

The company said that it doesn’t have any active business relationships with local Russian enterprises.

Profiting During War

The decision to pull out comes amidst pressure piling on Akshata Murthy’s husband and UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak to respond to allegations that his family is profiting from the company’s continued operations in Russia despite its actions.

United Kingdom Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer demanded that Sunak clarify whether his family had been “benefiting from money” earned in Russia on which the UK government imposed sanctions on corporations and individuals.

The government’s ministerial code requires ministers to register any financial interests that could cause a conflict of interest, including those of their spouse and close family.

Akshata Murthy’s Stake

Sunak did not comment on his wife’s 0.91% ownership in Infosys, despite repeatedly calling for British companies to pull out of Russia to “inflict maximum economic pain”.

Murthy owns over $90,00,00,000 (690 million pounds) stake in the company, which has yielded more than $1,50,00,000 (11.5 million pounds) in dividend payments over the past year.

He said that his wife and her family did not have any “involvement in the operational decisions of the company”.

Pity Party

Sunak made light of the situation, telling BBC’s Newscast that it was wrong for people to target his wife.

He compared his situation to that of Will Smith who infamously slapped host Chris Rock at the Oscars for making a joke about his wife.

He said, “Someone said Joe Root, Will Smith, and me – not the best of weekends for any of us..at least I didn’t get up and slap anybody, which is good”.